The image is of my daughter, Temma Day, a painting done by her father when she was about two-years-old. Temma had this shock of hair even when she was first born. She is struggling to lift up her head, her physical therapist put her on her stomach to help her, resting her hands on the old Merriam Webster’s Dictionary. Temma’s expression in the painting along with the title, “The Weight Of Centuries,” is both encouraging and haunting for me. Temma is now thirty-eight years old, her elbows are out of joint after that many years of spasticity. She also has scoliosis and kyphosis making it impossible to even attempt to be on her stomach, bend her arms, or lift her head in this way. The years of living with cerebral palsy and a debilitating seizure disorder weigh her down. Her expression in the painting shows the power of her determination and perseverance. Her chubby arms bring on that nostalgic feeling of her baby phase. What is haunting? Those same things–determination, perseverance, nostalgia–with the reality of the many obstacles she faces in her life that keep her head down.

I’ve been thinking about this image quite a bit lately. The weight of Centuries, the obstacles to doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God, are many. Too many. Yet, in my experience of living with Temma Day, she retains the same spirit of determination to hang on to life, to keep lifting her head up, keeping her hands on the words of the ages.

Take heart, my friends. Although your body may be tired from the weight of what you are carrying, God will renew your Spirit.